Ashton Irwin of 5 Seconds of Summer, said the attacks "will change what we write about in the future".

"We have a young fan base, and were almost the communicators of what's going on in the world."

Award winners

However, the rest of the awards show took a less sombre tone.

Host Jennifer Lopez opened the ceremony with an extended dance routine, set to a medley of the year's biggest hits - including Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk, Taylor Swift's Bad Blood and Drake's Hotline Bling.

Audience members Nicki Minaj and The Weeknd, whose songs were included in the mix, looked somewhat bemused by the honour.

Alanis Morissette performed her breakthrough hit You Oughta Know, which turns 20 this year, accompanied by Demi Lovato; while Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor locked lips at the end of an impassioned performance of their duet Marvin Gaye.

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Jennifer Lopez's dance medley was a spectacular start to the show

Actress Anna Kendrick skewered the cliches of acceptance speeches as she collected the best soundtrack prize for her film Pitch Perfect 2.

Reading out a "thank you" list, she praised arranger and producer Alana Da Fonseca and music director and vocal producer Deke Sharon, adding "you only made me want to kill myself three times".

"You're a ruthless little group of sociopaths and I admire that about you," she added.

She then thanked music producer Harvey Mason Jr "for not telling anyone about that hooker we buried", before giving her final shout-out to executive producers Julianne Jordan and Julia Michaels, exclaiming: "I don't like you at all!"

One Direction addressed their upcoming "hiatus" as they collected the ceremony's top prize, artist of the year, telling fans: "We're gonna go on a little break, gonna spend some time with our families."

They were not the only multiple award-winners: The Weeknd and Nicki Minaj both took home two trophies, with Minaj scooping the hip-hop album of the year prize for the third time in her career.

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The Weeknd set the stage on fire - literally - as he performed his single, The Hills

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Anna Kendrick was joined by the cast of Pitch Perfect 2 as she accepted the prize for best soundtrack

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Nicki Minaj said her award-winning The Pinkprint was the "hardest album I've ever had to do, write [and] perform every night"